Sandies Celebrate Homecoming With 46-27 Win Over Cross Roads

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

GRAPELAND — The Grapeland Sandies added a football victory to the city’s homecoming and Peanut Festival celebrations Friday, Oct. 16, defeating Cross Roads 46-27 in The Messenger’s Game of the Week.

The win was Grapeland’s fifth straight, lifting the Sandies to 5-2 overall. With 418 yards of offense, Grapeland gave its home crowd plenty to cheer about before the weekend’s festival activities continued.

Quarterback Eli Deleon accounted for five touchdowns, throwing for three and running for two more. He completed 16 of 20 passes for 184 yards, an 80% completion rate, with one interception. On the ground, he carried the ball 32 times for 140 yards, giving him 324 combined passing and rushing yards.

Jalen Woods was Deleon’s leading target, catching 11 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. His longest reception covered 57 yards, the Sandies’ longest gain through the air. Woods also contributed 24 yards on four carries, including a 22-yard run, finishing with 148 yards from scrimmage.

The passing game brought several Sandies into the scoring column. Ky’Darius “Chunky” Gilmore caught four passes for 43 yards and a touchdown, with a long reception of 15 yards. Dan Newman made his lone catch count, scoring on a 17-yard reception.

While Deleon handled most of the rushing attempts, Diego Fajardo provided two touchdowns on just four carries. Fajardo finished with 40 yards, averaging 10 yards per attempt, and had Grapeland’s longest run of the night at 23 yards.

Traylon Gaines added 28 yards on eight carries. Together, the Sandies rushed for 234 yards on 49 attempts, averaging 4.8 yards per carry and scoring four touchdowns on the ground.

The performance continued a winning stretch that began with Grapeland’s victory over Groveton in September. The Sandies followed that with wins over Cushing, Alto and Tenaha before returning home to face Cross Roads.

Grapeland will take its five-game winning streak on the road Friday, Oct. 23, when the Sandies face Overton at 7 p.m.

Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]